Bale tie



Patented Aug. 29, 1944 BALE TIE Norman R. Krause, Racine, Wis., assigner to J. I. Case Company, Racine, Wis., a corporation Application June 9, 1941, Serial No. 397,153

6 Claims.

, The present invention relates to bale ties and methods of manufacture thereof. An object of the invention is to generally improve the construction, operation and methods of manufacturing of such bale ties.

A further object is to provide a bale tie which may be manufactured with a minimum amount of waste.

A further object is to provide a bale tie which may be rapidly and easily connected together about a bale.

More particularly, an object is to provide a bale tie which, while it may be connected or hooked expeditiously under trying conditions, will not inadvertently become disconnected.

Further objects are to provide such a tie which will haveV a shock absorbing effect to relieve excessive tension which might otherwise cause the tie to break and which may be fastened in an alternative manner if conditions so require.

Further objects and advantages will appear from the following description and accompanying drawing in which:

Figure 1 is a view in perspective, with parts broken away, of a bale tie illustrative of the invention.

Fig. 2 is a view of one end of a tie such as that shown in Fig. 1, with a preliminary operation performed. Y

Fig. 3 is a similar view showing the result of a following operation.

Fig. 4 is a View of a portion of Fig. l with the ends united. f

Fig. 5 is a view of the same showing the conditions after a preliminary pull has been exerted on the wire.

Fig. 6 is a plan view of the same.

Fig. 7 is a side elevation showing an alternative manner of fastening the tie. V

Fig. 8 is a view of a modiiied construction of loop.

Fig. 9 is a view of a further'modied construction of loop.

Fig. 10 is a further modied construction of loop.

Fig. l1 is a view of a modied head construction.

Similar reference characters have been applied to the same parts throughout the specification and drawing.

As seen in Fig. l, the preferred embodiment of the invention includes a length of wire I0, which inruse encircles a bale of compressed material not necessary to be shown since it forms no part of the present invention, theends of the Wire being so constituted that they can be readily and substantially instantaneously united,V for example, by operators riding on a baling machine in well-known mannerfalthough the specication is not to be taken as limited to uniting the ends of these bale ties in any specic manner. For Athis purpose, one end of wire I0 has a loop generally designated as II and the other end has a head generally designated as I2- which can be readily hooked together when it is desired to unite the ends of the bale tie.

t Loop II, in the present instance comprises atransverse portion I3 extending inthe present instance approximately at right angles to the main body of wire I0. Portion I3 has extending forwardly at an acute angle thereto, portions I4 and I5. Portions I4 and I5 approach each other for a predetermined distance and then change direction'and extend forwardly and substantially in the same direction aswire I0, forming portions I6 and I'I which may be considered as united at I8, although it is contemplated that wire I0, portions I3, I4, I5, etc., may all be formed of a single piece of material of uniform cross section within the scope of the invention and it is to be understood that the proportions of the parts are expected to be varied within reasonable limits.-

Head I2, in the. present instance, includes an upset portion I9 and a shoulder portion 20 for engagement with above mentioned portions I6 and I1 approximately at I8.

Shoulder portion 2|] may have a conical or convex end 2| which will tend to avoid catching baled material or portions ofloop I I as the bale tie is used. In use, the tie is placed around a bale of compressed material in well-known manner and head I2 is inserted in loop I I and pulled back until upset portion I9 ts into the space between portions I6 and I'I, the spacing preferably being such that upset portion I9 may do this without appreciable resistance.

It will be apparent thatV head I2 cannot be disengaged from loop II under these conditions at least so long as there is a pull exerted in Wire I0. As is well-known, however, the pull is usually not exerted on wire I0 until'the bale of material is released from the. baling machine. To prevent inadvertent disengagement of head |12, from loop II, the operator exerts a substantial pull momentarily on wire I0 sufcient to slightly distort loop II as seen in Fig. 5. The proportions of loop II are so chosen that a pull suicient to distort the loop will cause portion I3 to fold or break down and move portions I4 and I5 inwardly, whereupon portions I6 and II close in about upset portion I9 so that portion I9 can no longer escape into the space between portions I4 and I5. Because of the difference in angles between portions I3 and portions I4 and I5, a relatively light pull will cause such folding of portion I3, but after the loop II takes the form shown in Fig. 5, the pull may be tremendously increased without causing substantial further distortion. Under extreme tension, portions I S and I1 will normally bend somewhat out of the plane of wire IIJ as indicated in Fig. 6, and upset portion I9 may likewise bend somewhat out of the plane of wire I0.

In the past, it has been fairly common that bales tied with wire would break the wire and burst open in the event of unusual excessive strain, such for example, as if the bale were to be dropped out of a barn loft. In the present instance, a shock absorbing portion 22 comprising in the present instance a series of return bends or offset portions 23, 24 and 25, is interposed in wire I0, preferably in the neighborhood of loop II although any convenient point in the length of wire Ill is contemplated as equivalent. Bends 23, 24 and 25 are so proportioned as normally not to be affected by the tension in wire IU, but in the event of excessive tension, such as would occur if the bale were dropped,- the tension may be relieved by a slight straightening of the oiset` or bend portions 23, 24 and 25. Thus a bale tied with the ties of the present invention might be dropped a number of times without danger of breaking a tie.

Loop II may be formed in several ways within the contemplation of the invention, the preferred manner being indicated in Figs. 2 and 3. In this instance, wire I is flattened somewhat at 29, as a rst operation, and the attened portion is then pierced as shown in Fig. 3 to form a loop, these operations being performed by well-known mechanism not necessary to disclose as forming no part of the present invention. The piercing operation forms an opening 2'I which may be readily enlarged to provide the form of loop fully disclosed in Fig. 1. It will be noted that such a loop has no joint of any kind and that there is no waste of material, only so much of wire I9 being used as necessary to supply the needed amount of material in loop II. The length of attened portion 26 can be so chosen that the full equivalent cross section of wire I0 is present in loop II, whereby there will be no material sacrifice of the strength of the wire as a whole in forming the fastening.

Obviously, the full advantage of a tie of'this nature can be best realized when it is used with bales of uniform length. However, occasionally a bale comes through a machine, as is wellknown, of a shorter length than those intended. Under these conditions, the bale tie of the present invention can be used as indicated in Fig. 7. The head I2 is passed through loop I I and pulled through as far as necessary, upset portion I9 and wire I0 sliding freely as above described between portions I 6 and I 'I. When the desired position is reached, wire I0 may be bent back upon itself and wrapped, if desired, as indicated, to form a secure connection. Of course, it is understood that this does not take full advantage of the easy'fastening characteristics of the loop and head, but on the other hand, a short bale comes through only occasionally and the bale tie of the present invention can be used nevertheless on such occasional bale without inconvenience.

Loop II may be formed in other ways within the contemplation of the invention, as for example, in Fig. 8, a wire as 28 is formed into a loop 29 corresponding to loop II, as for example by bending in a die, the loop having a portion 30 which is laid against portion 28 and united therewith as for example by welding at 3|. This loop has the same or equivalent operating characteristics as the above described loop II and accordingly need not be further described.

A further modication is shown in Fig. 9 in which a wire 32 may be formed as by bending into a loop 33 of similar characteristics to above mentioned loops II and 29, loop 33 terminating in a portion 34 which may be twisted in wellknown manner about Wire 32 for closing loop 33.

A still further modication is shown in Fig. 10 in which a wire 35 has a separately formed'loop generally designated as 3B, of similar characteristics to above mentioned loops II, 29 and 33, fixed thereto as for example by welding at 3'I. An advantage of this construction is the convenience of using a different cross section of material in the loop from that in the wire itself.

A modied form of head is shown in Fig. 1l in which a wire 38 has a shoulder 39 formed thereon, the conical head and upset portions, such as shown in Fig. 1, for example, being omitted in this embodiment.

The operation of the invention is thought to be clear from the above description, it being understood that the bale tie is placed about a bale of compressed material in well-known manner, and head I2 hooked within loop II by an operator or otherwise. When head I2 is secured in loop II, a moderate momentary pull collapses or distorts loop II somewhat, which prevents inadvertent removal or unhooking of head I2 from loop II. In the event that a short bale is formed occasionally, the tie may be used by drawing wire I0 through loop II the required distance and bending and wrapping it after the manner of bale ties of known form. It is not necessary to provide a supply of ties of a different type for this contingency. In the event that a bale is dropped or otherwise subjected to excessive strain, a tie may yield slightly at shock absorbing portion 22 and prevent breaking of the wire.

The above being a complete description of an embodiment of the invention, what is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A bale tie including a length of baling wire having an upset portion adjacent one end, a head on said upset portion and having a conical configuration to facilitate insertion of the tie into baled material, a loop including a portion extending transverse to the wire, portions extending forwardly and inwardly from said transverse portion, portions extending from the last named portions spaced from each other a distance to freely accommodate said upset portion and extending substantially in the same direction as the wire, and said last named portions possessing the characteristics of portions that have been united for retaining said upset portion and said head when said head is engaged with said loop for fastening said tie, and said wire having an offset portion between the ends thereof which may yield upon application of excessive pull to the wire.

2. In a bale tie comprising a wire, a head including an upset portion of the wire, a shoulder transverse to the upset portion and a conical end beyond the shoulder to form a point on the head to facilitate insertion of the tie.

3. In a bale tie including a length of wire having a loop at one end and a head at the other, a loop for said tie including a portion extending transversely of the wire substantially at right angles thereto, portions extending from the extremities of said transverse portion forwardly and inwardly at a lesser angle to the direction of the wire, portions Aextending forwardly from the last named portions spaced from each other sufficiently to freely accommodate the wire and joining with each other at a distance spaced from the second mentioned portions comparable to the length of said second mentioned portions, whereby pull on said loop while the head is engaged by the last mentioned portions of the loop will cause said transverse portion to bend, thereby reducing the spacing between the second mentioned portions and bending the wire at the point where the last mentioned portions join to close the spacing between the last mentioned portions, and thereby prevent the displacement of the wire and head from the loop.

4. A bale tie including a length of baling wire having an upset portion adjacent one end, a, head on said upset portion and having a conical configuration to facilitate insertion of the tie into baled material, a loop including'a portion extending transverse to. the wire, portions extending forwardly and inwardly from said transverse portion, portions extending from the last named portions spaced from each other a distance to freely accommodate said upset portion and extending substantially in the same direction as the wire, and said last named portions possessing the characteristics of portions that have been united for retaining said upset portion and said head when said head is engaged with said loop v for fastening said tie.

portions extending from the last named portions spaced from each other a distance to freely accommodate said upset portion and extending substantially in the same direction as the wire, and said last named portions possessing the characteristics of portions that have been united for retaining said upset portion and said head when said head is engaged with said loop for fastening said tie.

6. A loop for a bale tie including a length of wire, said loop comprising a portion extending substantially at right angles to the wire, portions extending from the extremities of the right angled portion forwardly and inwardly at an angle of substantially 45 to the direction of the wire, portions extending forwardly from the second named portions spaced from each other sufliciently to freely accommodate the wire, the last named portions joining with each other at a distance spaced from the second mentioned portions comparable to the length of said second mentioned portions, whereby a pull on said loop in the region of the last mentioned portions will cause said right angle portion to bend, thereby reducing the spacing between the second mentioned portions and bending the wire at the point where said last mentioned portions join, to reduce the spacing between said lastmentioned portions.

NORMAN R. KRAUSE. 

